there’s been a whole lot of rushing around of late — have you noticed? is it that back to school, end of summer kind of craziness that makes you feel like the year is dashing by and soon will come fall and oh my gosh, the holidays already? whew. time to slow it down. i think my weekend is going to be about the little things that comfort us — breakfast with friends, walks with our dogs, sleeping in a little or perhaps a good nap (i’d like to take this throw and lay out in the warm sun somewhere reading a good book). i’m trying to take better care of myself and for me, that means the simple life. a retreat to small joys, like some of these. have a restful and rejuvenating weekend everyone.

• i love japanese design books. mind you, most are written in japanese, but i get so much style inspiration from them, the words hardly matter. the homes shared are always uniquely simple, but with such interesting character — i almost feel like you get to know the people living there. i love this pretty one from mohawk general store — the Fennica Style Book is an inspirational paperback photo book that showcases Japanese interiors and the influence of modernism in design in their decor. simply divine.

• raw. vegan. not gross. that’s chef laura miller of sidesaddle kitchen’s motto. and she backs it up — with delicious recipes that even carnivore me wants to try. plus she adds just enough cray-cray in her charming presentation of recipes and videos that it makes you want to try them — they’re just that fun. think martha after a couple of brewskies. clever, raw, vegan, definitely not gross. check out sidesaddle kitchen. oh, her everyday eats are priceless, too.

• drink more water. that’s always on my to-do list. i love this idea from sara woodrow of bottling purified water and creating pretty personalized labels for them. you can lead a horse to water, but if you make cute labels, will we drink more? maybe.

• don’t you miss the drive-in? i miss them so much. when we were kids, on warm summer nights we’d load up the station wagon with sleeping bags, snacks and one of my mum’s picnic dinners and hit the local drive-in theater. it was like a mini camping trip, but with movies. such fond, nostalgic memories i have of movies like ‘to kill a mockingbird’ and even ‘the graduate’ — which i think we were supposed to sleep through, but spied from the back seat. somebody do a start-up for a drive-in. forget another app, i want to go back in time.

Funny, I share your love of Japanese design books. Very fresh, inspiring ideas (even if I can’t understand the explanations!). And great reminder to sloooooow doooooown and enjoy the simple things in life.

I’m so excited to see awesome vegan eats featured! Drive-In movie theaters should be resurrected! Locally we have the Mission Drive-In the city is redeveloping, it would be amazing to have local film screenings there.

I live in a small town with a drive-in set in the center of a pine forest. The concession stand
is right out of the 50’s and lovingly maintained. Families bring lawn chairs, blankets, even
couches. It really is like going back in time. I would say where it is but then everyone would
want to come here and that would spoil everything.

There is definitely something about Japanese design, I’ve pinning lots of Japanese design recently, so much of it is absolutely gorgeous and so inspiring. That book looks so lovely!
Have a lovely weekend!